NOLA Public Schools: Report COVID-19 cases in schools immediately

Superintendent Henderson Lewis, Orleans Parish School Board Members

In the midst of COVID-19, school safety depends on transparency and accountability.

Pre-K through 4th grade students in Orleans Parish have returned for in person instruction without transparency and accountability for the COVID-19 Guidelines that NOLA Public Schools has written. Currently there is no clear way to report violations of the guidelines observed in school buildings and the public reporting of COVID cases or quarantining based on school based contacts only happens weekly, furthermore, it is not clear what concrete actions will be taken to hold schools accountable for violations.

Sign this petition today Students, families, and staff will not be safe until there is real accountability and transparency!

We are asking NOLA-PS to immediately take the following steps:

  1. Set up a hotline for anyone who observes a violation of the COVID-19 guidelines and supplemental guidance in New Orleans Schools to report immediately and anonymously concerns about violations with whistleblower protections.

  2. Create a publicly available dashboard of COVID-19 cases in each public school in New Orleans which, within 24 hours of reporting to NOLA-PS, states: 1. how many cases of COVID-19 are confirmed, 2. how many cases of symptomatic people with a known exposure, 3. how many staff and students have been quarantined because of an exposure in the school building and 4.how many cases were developed through transmission in the school building.

  3. A clear plan and process to hold schools accountable if they are violating the requirements of the COVID-19 Roadmap and Supplemental Guidance.

  4. Provide regular free testing of staff and students to ensure the data on a potential dashboard are more accurate.

To: Superintendent Henderson Lewis, Orleans Parish School Board Members
From: [Your Name]

In the midst of COVID-19, school safety depends on transparency and accountability.

Pre-K through 4th grade students in Orleans Parish have returned for in person instruction without transparency and accountability for the COVID-19 Guidelines that NOLA Public Schools has written. Currently there is no clear way to report violations of the guidelines observed in school buildings and the public reporting of COVID cases or quarantining based on school based contacts only happens weekly, furthermore, it is not clear what concrete actions will be taken to hold schools accountable for violations.

We are asking you to immediately take the following steps:

1. Set up a hotline for anyone who observes a violation of the COVID-19 guidelines and supplemental guidance in New Orleans Schools to report immediately and anonymously concerns about violations with whistleblower protections.

2. Create a publicly available dashboard of COVID-19 cases in each public school in New Orleans which, within 24 hours of reporting to NOLA-PS, states how many cases of COVID-19 are confirmed, how many cases of symptomatic people with a known exposure, how many staff and students have been in quarantined because of an exposure in the school building and how many cases were developed through transmission in the school building.

3. A clear plan and process to hold schools accountable if they are violating the requirements of the COVID-19 Roadmap and Supplemental Guidance.

4. Provide regular free testing of staff and students to ensure the data on a potential dashboard are more accurate.